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Little Ann Little
Little Ann Little was a voice actress who gained fame as the voice of Betty Boop. From''' 1930 to 1933', Little Ann Little made recordings for the “Betty Boop“ cartoons and appeared in variety shows throughout the country. Once Ann had got the role of Betty Boop she had became a star. Paramount Pictures was holding a contest which was sponsored by Helen Kane, for a girl with a squeaky voice for the role of the cartoon character Betty Boop. Ann tried out for the role and had got the part. Ann Rothschild also made personal appearances as Betty Boop. Little Ann Little went on the road with the Fleischer Studios artist Pauline Comanor. Ann would pose while Pauline drew her as Betty boop. They both finished the act with a "'boop-boop-a-doop'." In 1934 Helen Kane filed a $250,000 suit against Paramount and Max Fleischer, charging unfair competition and wrongful appropriation in the Betty Boop cartoons. The trial opened that year with Kane and Betty Boop films being viewed only by the judge. No jury was called. Ann Rothschild aka Little ann Little, Margie Hines,Kate Wright, Bonnie Poe, and most notably Mae Questel were all summoned to testify. RKO Discoveries - 27th April (1930) RKO Discoveries.png At the '''Kentmore Theater' Chris Charlton conjurer, tops the stage show at the RKO Kenmore Theater today. Monday and Tuesda. The surrounding features include Tom Brown and the original six Brown brothers. The syncopating saxophone comedians; Viola Rudell and Edward Duniganin a character comedy. Such Is Life by Eugene Conrad and Jack Silver. Offering a variety of things constituting A Pleasant Surprise. Nancy Carroll in Honey is the screens chief attrraction. Wednesday, Thrusday and Friday the stage attractions will include Joe Daly and the RKO Discoveries, including Little Ann Little, Harry and Honeybee Finberg, Violette Flores, Joe Bisto, Skeets, Genaro, Gary Cooper "Only the Brave", with Mary Brian will be shown on the slver screen. An added feature will be Molly Picon in a singing novelty short. $250,000 Lawsuit Little ann Little told the court how Boop-Oop-a-Doop had started out as''' Ba-Da-Inde-Do', which developed into' Bo-Do-De-O-Do and finally to Boop-Oop-a-Doop'. The court' stenographers glowered as Ann Little gave her account. '''Helen Kane's counsel asked Ann, who spoke through-out the trial in a Betty Boop voice, "Oh, do you speak that way at home?" in which Ann replied "Yes indeedy!" Personal Life Ann Little Brooklyn New York.PNG Ann started in show business in''' 1925''' as a member of the pony chorus with the''' Greenwich Village Follies'. She was also an also an '''RKO' discovery and at one time had her own program on the NBC network as singer Little Ann Little. Ann later moved to''' St. Petersburg, Florida with her husband who was a retired employe of '''Consolidated Edison. In the late 1940s, she was an instructor at the''' Pauline Buhner School of Dance in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she taught acting, singing and dancing. Ann was very tiny, being only four feet, ten inches tall and weighing 100 pounds. She also had a squeaky voice which made her perfect for the role of Betty Boop. Ann studied the '''Bible. Her goal was to be an ordained minister and to preach the Gospel. From 1954, Ann Rothschild was ordained as minister in the Unity Church of Christianity. Thrilling Sea Picture Comes to Casino (1936) Ann Little Casino.PNG Star of the stage show this week is Little Ann Little the "voice" of Betty Boop in the well known cartoon films. Sweet and innocent is Miss Little as her contribution starts, but finish there is! Betty is revealed as a most sophisticated person who can put a modernistic twist to the most innocuous nursery rhyme. And she does just that if she were the age she represents "Mother would take her and scrub her mouth out with soap" But Betty being what she is, the audience seem to adore her. Which probably is a sufficient answer. (1938) Annabell Rothschild as Betty in 1938.png Although Ann no longer voiced Betty Boop in the cartoons Ann would continue to play Betty in person until the characters retirement, courtesy of the Fleischer's Studios. Friday, March 1938 On our stage show - at both shows Betty Boop in Person Paramount's Famous Cartoon Star Little Ann Little Courtesy of Max Fleischer Studios Presenting a Delightful ''' '''Novelty Act Showing you how the famous Betty Boop cartoons ''' '''are prepared for the theatre program! Ann On Mae Questel In a 1975 interview for a newspaper article Ann complained in a story''' Fort Myers News Press''' about Mae Questel. Ann conveniently forgot that she and Questel had appeared on stage together after the trial against Helen Kane. Ann couldn't admit that any one else other than herself was Betty Boop. The 77-pound, 58 inch, orange-haired,' blue-eyed' ex-cartoon and vaudeville queen, sitting in her apartment was laughing with the soap opera games on televison, when the telephone rang and a friend told her he'd heard a lady on the tube the night before claiming to be the original Betty Boop. Small balls of fire started to burn in Ann Rothschilds eyes and heart. Ann professed to being upset because others were wrongly getting credit for “being” Betty Boop. To support her claims she quoted a letter written by Mike Lacy, then president of a Betty Boop Fan Club to radio host Tom Synder saying: *It has been called to my attention that Mae Questel appeared on your program Thursday, August 28, 1975. She claimed to be the original voice of Betty Boop. Mrs Ann L Rothschild has valid proof of being the “first” Betty Boop. *I'm upset, i'm tired of hearing about these''' ORIGINAL''' Betty Boop's and people around here thinking i'm a fraud. I'm the original Betty Boop. I began doing boop-boop-a-doop '''songs when i was out on the road with the vaudeville shows. *My friend called me in late august to tell me he'd heard this Mae Questel on television. She's a little fat woman''' i met in Mr Fleischer's office a few times saying she was the original Betty Boop on the Tom Snyder show (NBC). I'm upset some people around here are beginning to think i'm a fraud. They go wisp, wisp wisping about me. It bothers me. Ann Rothschild on how she was chosen to voice Betty Boop When Max Fleischer was looking for someone for his new Betty Boop cartoon character i went to the audition and he chose me. There were hundreds of girls there and most of them could sing better than i could. But i don't know i suppose i had what he wanted. I was very tiny and very pretty, you know, and i had this high pitched voice. Little Ann Little on herself as the original Betty Boop "Mr Flesicher always said i was the original Betty Boop he even won a court case over me once". (Of course there were other boop-boop-a-doop girls back in the late 1920s and early 1930s Helen Kane she died several years ago of cancer 'was one of them) Gallery Ann Little as Betty Boop.png Ann Rothsc.jpg Little-Ann-Little-as-Betty-Boop-betty-boop-17090342-541-480.jpg Little Ann Little 01.jpg Little Ann Little 02.jpg Little Ann Little 03.jpg Little Ann Little 04.jpg Annabel Little Rothschild.png Little Ann Little 1935.png Trivia *Ann claimed she was the "'original" voice of Betty Boop when in fact it was Margie Hines. Ann's claim to this was half true as she had also voiced the character in 1930, but Margie had provided the voice for the character in Dizzy Dishes the first cartoon to feature the character then again in Barnacle Bill. Ann claimed they made 18 cartoons a year and that she then filled in the dialouge. The truth is that Ann provided the vocals for "1" cartoon and then went on to play Betty in person. The real women who recorded most of the Betty Boop cartoons were Margie Hines, Mae Questel and Bonnie Poe, all three were featured in a newspaper article against Helen Kane, as providing the most voice-overs in the Betty Boop cartoon series, which makes Ann's claim to be untrue. * In Charm School she went by the name Betty Werner, after her husband died she reverted her name back to Ann Rothschild. * In Vaudeville she was known as "Miss Little Ann Little", Once she was married she was known as Ann Werner. * Betty Boop was the only cartoon voice she could do because, although she tried to change her voice, it was so distinctive, that producers told her it would have easily been recognized. * Ann Rothschild played Betty Boop in person & on stage from 1933-1938, she also signed autographs and did''' publicity photographs''' as Betty. * After her husband died in 1948, Ann set up the "Betty Boop" School of Dancing in St Petersburg, to teach singing, dancing and elocution. * In 1941 Ann who was with Paramount Films for 20 years, did Hair & photographic make-up for a Charm School, which was featured in the newspapers. * Ann's most famous pupil was Carroll Baker who she taught for three years. *Ann closed her School in 1951, and went to Fort Myers to set up a Christian Unity Church. *Ann Rothschild envied Mae Questel's fame and complained about Mae Questel in a story in the Fort Myers News Press. *Little Ann Little "claimed" that The Fleischer Studios colored Betty Boop's hair red because she had red hair. *Ann deluded herself into thinking the Helen Kane lawsuit trial was about her and couldn't bring herself to admit that anyone else was Betty Boop. *Ann couldn't quite explain why she was replaced by Mae Questel. Death *Ann Rothschild died at the age of 71 in 1981. Songs Performed as Betty *Mysterious Mose Filmography *Mysterious Mose (1930) *Betty Co-Ed (1931) *The Betty Boop cartoon series 1930-1933. *Portrayed Betty In person from (1933-1938) See Also * Ann Rothschild is there a doctor in the house? * Chunkymonkey.com Pauline Comanors website * Little Ann Rothschild 1931 - 1933 * Little Ann rothchild dies at age 71 * Ann Rothschild, entertainer,dies * Little Ann Werner, aka little ann little Category:Article stubs Category:People